A little arthouse on the prairie blooms amid corn September 6, 2001 BY ADAM KEMPENAAR Iowa City might be as culturally hip as this state gets, but if you're a film geek like me, this place can seem about as sophisticated as that backwards little bog where Sean Penn's car breaks down in the movie U-Turn. Sure, people in New York and L.A. have to contend with higher crime rates, traffic jams, and smog, but at least they can see Apocalypse Now Redux, or a smart, offbeat film like Ghost World before it comes out on video. While they sit in their trendy theaters, sipping decaf mocha lattes and surveying the latest art-house fare, we're stuck wondering if we'll ever get to see a movie that doesn't star Freddie Prinze Jr. or that annoying guy from Scream -- or even worse, the two of them together (Summer Catch, anyone?). Thankfully, the Campus III has teased us recently with some quality, non-mainstream movies. Amores Perros, Alejandro Gonzalez Iniarritu's kinetic, episodic tale of love and loss, and Sexy Beast, featuring a terrifically evil performance from Ben Kingsley, both played there this summer. For the true cinephile, however, Iowa City's only reliable venue for independent and foreign films is still the Bijou, which kicks off its fall schedule tonight. So if you have a burning desire to impress your friends with your impeccable taste in highbrow cinema, here are three films to mark on your calendar. (Note that I have not seen any of the following films. These recommendations are based solely on subject matter and positive word-of-mouth.) Startup.com (starts tonight) Produced by legendary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back, The War Room), this documentary chronicles the rise and fall of the new American dream in the form of two lifelong friends who achieve unimagined success with their media company, GovWorks.com, only to watch it all crumble at their feet. Even if you aren't interested in the Internet, Startup.com is worth a look simply because it captures a time and mood in American culture that we will probably never see the likes of again. At its core is a story of two friends whose relationship is altered forever. Brother (Sept. 13) From the famed Japanese actor/writer/director Takeshi Kitano, Brother is the story of a yakuza gangster (Kitano) who flees Japan after a nasty gang war to find his brother in Los Angeles. There, he meets a young hustler, played by Omar Epps, and begins a new life of crime. Sounds almost like a thinking man's Rush Hour, minus Jackie Chan's foolish grins and Chris Tucker's shrill voice -- and with a lot more bullets. Bully (Sept. 20) "It's 4 a.m. Do you know where your kids are?" Even the tag line is disturbing. Based on the true story of Bobby Kent (Brad Renfro), a South Florida teen who was murdered in 1993 by his own "friends," Bully is director Larry Clark's (Kids) latest venture into the moral decay of the modern-day adolescent. Guaranteed to unnerve you, with an ensemble cast that reads like a millennium edition of the '80s "Brat Pack" -- Renfro, Rachel Miner, Nick Stahl, and Bijou Phillips. How about the "Slack Pack"? E-mail CinemaScoped at: cinemascoped@sbcglobal.net

CinemaScoped Reviews Articles Essays Bio